Mother, toddler struck by semi-truck on South Side near 69th, Prairie

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A mother and her child were critically injured when they were hit by a semi-truck in the Park Manor neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

The victims were in the crosswalk heading to a CTA bus stop when they were struck near 69th and S. Prairie around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The mother, Regina Holloway, was pushing her 2-year-old daughter, Angela, in a stroller when they were hit head-on and pinned beneath the truck.

"You know them both being trapped under the truck all she was doing was trying to comfort her baby even though she was going through what she was going through," said Linda Holloway, a relative of the victims.

A CTA bus was behind the truck around the time of the accident. Some of those passengers say they got off the bus and tried to help the victims trapped beneath the truck. They were eventually freed by firefighters.

"There was nothing you could do. Nothing you could do. And the driver tried to help her, too," said Walter Hicks, a witness.

"The baby sustained brain injury and leg injury so right now we're just praying that her leg can be saved," Linda Holloway said.

The mother and her daughter remain hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. The toddler is expected to survive, but relatives said her leg may need to be amputated.

The truck is operated by a company in Little Village called Lakeshore Recycling Systems. The I-Team has learned the company has had 16 crashes in the past two years - none of them fatal. The company is listed as having a "satisfactory" safety record.

Police said the driver, 51-year-old Gregory Leonard of Oak Forest, has been cited for failure to reduce speed and to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Lakeshore Recycling Systems declined to comment Tuesday night.